A wide variety of absorbent structures designed not only to be efficient for the absorption of body fluids such as blood, urine, menses, and the like, but also to be sanitary and comfortable in-use are known in the literature. Disposable products of this type generally comprise some sort of fluid-permeable topsheet material, an absorbent core, and a fluid-impermeable backsheet material. Various shapes, sizes and thicknesses of such articles have been explored in an attempt to make their use more comfortable and convenient.
One particular aspect of sanitary products which has been under investigation for many years is that of odor control. Many body fluids have an unpleasant odor, or develop such odors when in contact with air and/or bacteria for prolonged periods. The literature is replete with references relating to odor control in products such as diapers and catamenials.
Various odor-controlling agents have been disclosed in the literature. In particular, certain zeolitic materials are becoming known for their odor-controlling properties. Zeolitic materials are generally quite safe, and while they do effectively control many odors associated with body fluids, it has been determined that, unfortunately, they do not provide optimal control for ammonia odor and similar odors, presumably associated with short-chain amines and/or urea. This is particularly true of the so-called "high ratio" (SiO.sub.2 :AlO.sub.2) ) odor-controlling zeolites.
It has now been determined that certain "intermediate ratio" (SiO.sub.2 :AlO.sub.2) zeolites are quite effective for adsorbing amine-type odors.
Accordingly, the present invention provides a means for safely and effectively overcoming the deficiencies in the art-disclosed "high ratio" zeolitic odor-controlling agents by replacing them with "intermediate ratio" zeolites, or by using both types in combination. These and other advantages associated with the present invention will be seen from the disclosure, hereinafter.